


chocolate covered coffee beans

by SailorChibi



Series: aro-ace Valentine fics [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Demiromantic Character, Demiromantic Tony Stark, Demisexual Character, Demisexual Tony Stark, Fluff, Get Together, High School, M/M, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Valentine's Day, steve rogers is an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 13:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6008023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is an idiot. He turned Tony down flat based on the assumption that Tony just wanted sex - an assumption that their friends very quickly corrected. Now it's Valentine's Day, and he has one chance to make it right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	chocolate covered coffee beans

**Author's Note:**

> Last year for Valentine's Day I wrote a fic where Tony was demisexual, and it went over well. So I decided to do it again this year.
> 
> Someone who is demiromantic only becomes romantically attracted to people after a strong emotional bond has been formed. Likewise, someone who is demisexual only becomes sexually attracted to people after a strong emotional bond is formed. However, people can and do have sex even if they're not sexually attracted to someone.

Steve jerked awake when his alarm went off. He fumbled for his phone, groaning, and squinted at the clock. It was 8am. It was also Sunday and therefore way too early to be awake, especially when it was this cold in the apartment. He shut the alarm off, dropped his phone on his bed, and cuddled back underneath the warm covers. Why the hell had he set his alarm for 8am on a Sunday -

His eyes snapped open. Oh, right.

It was Valentine's Day.

He rolled out of bed, suddenly not caring about the cold, and grabbed the jeans and red shirt he'd left on his dresser last night. There was a note on top from his mom - it said, quite simply, _Good luck_. Steve had to smile as he shimmied into his clothes. He hadn't expressly told his mother what was going on, mostly because he knew from experience she'd call him out for being an idiot and Natasha and Clint had already done that thoroughly. But, as always, he'd underestimated his mother's ability to know exactly what was happening in her son's life. Sarah Rogers had the best Mom Sense of any mom Steve had ever met.

He folded up the note, stuck it in his back pocket, and hurried into the bathroom. His mind was racing as he went through his normal routine. What if Tony shut the door in his face? What if he didn't want anything to do with Steve anymore? Natasha had said there was no chance of that happening, but Steve had his doubts. 

After all, Tony had asked him out and Steve shot him down instantly, without even thinking twice. It still curled his stomach to think about the way Tony's bright smile had tightened at the edges, then quickly disappeared, and the slump of his shoulders as he walked away. They hadn't spoken much in the past week, and he was missing Tony more than he would ever have thought.

"I didn't know," Steve told his reflection, as though that was going to help. Tony was an enigma: he was a geek, and a target for more than one bully, which was how he and Steve had become friends in the first place. But he also had a school wide reputation for being a love 'em and leave 'em slut: he'd slept with a lot of people, but never dated anyone. How was Steve supposed to know that Tony wanted him to be more than just a notch on the bedpost? He'd been so sure in that moment that Tony was asking for sex, not for... well, for more.

The evidence said otherwise, though. If it was just about sex, that would've rolled off Tony's back. Steve had seen that happen before. Tony was always careful about clarifying consent, and he had no problem backing off. He'd never gone MIA on a potential hook-up who turned him down. And then there was the fact that Natasha and Clint were both ready to kick his ass, and even Bucky - who didn't really like Tony - had told him he was being a dick... Not to mention Phil, who was friends with Pepper, had pulled him aside to tell him that Tony had buried himself in his lab. Phil was actually the one to help Steve plan today out.

He just hoped the day didn't end with being on the receiving end of a flat out "No".

Steve headed into the kitchen, grabbed his package from the fridge and was out the door. It was a good thing he was taking his motorcycle over to Tony's, because riding it always helped to calm him down. Which was stupid, according to Clint, because Steve drove like a maniac on steroids, but that was just because the drivers in New York were too slow. 

Needless to say, it didn't take him long to get to Tony's.

Jarvis opened the door before Steve even got to the porch. His expression was not exactly welcoming. "Hello, Mr. Rogers."

"Hi Jarvis," Steve said, attempting to smile. "Is uh... is Tony home?" He shifted his package nervously.

Something in Jarvis's eyes softened just a little. "I feel compelled to tell you that you're an idiot."

"That does seem to be the general consensus. And I'm not arguing that. I fucked up. I want to make it up to Tony. Please?"

Jarvis sighed. "He's in his lab, where he's been for the past two days. If you can make him eat something, that might help to restore you in my favor."

Steve breathed out. First hurdle accomplished. "I'll see what I can do. I made reservations at Pastelli's, but I don't know if Tony will want to join me or not." He was hoping that the name of their favorite pizza place, which had become something of a tradition for the two of them to go to every Friday night, would soften Tony up a little. It had taken a lot of time and effort to get a reservation at such a late stage in the game. Thank god for Pepper Potts. She might've only been a freshman in college, but Steve was pretty sure she would rule the world at some point in the near future.

"Good luck," Jarvis said, and to his credit he sounded like he meant it. He stepped aside to let Steve in.

The path to Tony's lab was definitely familiar by now. Steve's heart raced the closer he got, and he was pretty sure he was going to have a heart attack when he saw Tony. He was bent over something, blowtorch in his hand and goggles on his face. Steve slowed to a stop and swallowed hard. He was starting to re-think this whole thing. Maybe what'd he decided to do was dumb. Maybe he should've ignored Valentine's Day and just talked to Tony tomorrow at school (or whenever Tony next decided to show up). Maybe he should've -

All thoughts ground to a halt when Tony looked up. The look of shock on his face, combined with the goggles, would've been funny at any other time. Tony turned the blowtorch off and slowly set it aside, pushing the goggles up his forehead. As he stood up, Steve forced himself to walk the rest of the way into the lab. There was no way he could turn back now.

"Are those red roses?" Tony said incredulously.

"Yes. They're for you," Steve added, because it hadn't taken him long to learn that Tony could twist things in amazingly outlandish ways. If he didn't clarify that now, Tony would probably start thinking that Steve had just stopped here on his way to a date with someone else and gone to the trouble of carting his gifts inside.

"You bought me roses. You."

"That's right. And a selection of coffee beans wrapped in chocolate and chocolates with espresso syrup inside," Steve replied. The chocolates and flowers had set him back an outrageous amount of money, but if this worked he didn't care.

Tony just blinked at him. "Is it my birthday? How long have I been down here for?"

"Two days, according to Jarvis. But no, it's not your birthday. It's Valentine's Day."

"Valentine's Day?" Tony repeated, eyebrows shooting up. "I think you're at the wrong house."

"Nope, I'm exactly where I want to be." Steve dared to come closer, since Tony hadn't immediately thrown him out, and held out the roses. He'd wrapped a red ribbon around them, attaching the chocolates to the bouquet. Tony stared at the offering, but made no move to take them.

"Is this an apology?" he asked. "Because Steve, I have to tell you, it's a little overkill."

"It's kind of an apology, yeah. For not listening to you. I'm sorry. I thought you were just asking for sex."

"Well, sex was part of it." Tony still wasn't meeting Steve's eyes.

"But that wasn't all of it, was it? Or at least I hope not. 'Cause I'm not interested in just sex, but if you were offering the whole package..."

Now, Tony looked up. He narrowed his eyes. "Did Pepper talk to you? Did she tell you I'm demiromantic and that you're the first person I ever actually wanted to date?"

There it was. The last piece of the puzzle sliding into place. Steve didn't know why he hadn't wondered about it before. He'd always assumed that Tony was bisexual, or maybe pansexual. This made sense. "I can say with 100% honesty that Pepper did not talk to me, but I like hearing that you want to date me."

"In our group of friends, that doesn't mean much. Gossip travels faster than in an old folks' home. All I'm really hearing is that everyone knows my orientation now," Tony said, pouting.

"No one knows except for me, Tony. And I only know because you told me. Demiromantic, right?"

"And demisexual. I just... like sex." Tony shrugged, like it was no big deal, but the way he was eyeing Steve suggested otherwise.

"I like sex too," said Steve, still holding out the flowers and chocolates. "Even better if it's accompanied by a date first. Like say, at Pastelli's?"

"Well, I guess it would be a waste to miss out on dinner." Tony took the flowers, holding them carefully. He looked a little odd, standing there with roses and chocolates in his arms with grease on his face, hair and clothes, but Steve had never thought he looked more beautiful. He smiled foolishly, his heart beating fast for an entirely different reason now, and was shocked to see the tips of Tony's ears turn pink as he blushed.

"I really am sorry, Tony," he said.

"It's okay. I'll forgive you if you do one more thing."

"What's that?"

Tony grinned with mischief. "What, you got me flowers and chocolate, but no kiss?"

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
